House Arrest
by Noxbait
Summary: (S3/S9) Dean finds himself under house arrest and isn't quite sure why.


_So this is in recognition of today being both Tuesday and April Fools day, a combination that would surely attract the attention of the Trickster, right? My thanks goes out to DamonsGirl92 for the wonderful prompt. _

_And yes, unless I looked at something wrong, April 1st fell on a Tuesday in 2008! I am willing to bet many of us woke up this morning to _Heat of the Moment_, am I right? :) _

* * *

**House Arrest**

* * *

**April 1st, 2008**

"For the love of all that is holy, will you just stay put?"

Dean shot his brother an incredulous look. He'd been trying to leave the motel room all day. But each time he'd attempted to go, Sam had come up with a reason he should stay. More research. It's raining. And on and on. At first, Dean hadn't thought anything of it. Now, though, he was hungry and Sam wasn't going to magically make food appear. He'd been trying to get out the door for the past hour and Sam was now physically standing in his way obviously as exasperated as he himself was.

Dean rolled his eyes, "What is up with you today? I'm tired of being cooped up in here."

"Tough."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Maybe." Sam wasn't budging. "But you're not going anywhere."

All he wanted was a slice of pie. And a burger. Or a beer. Definitely a beer. But there was an immovable object blocking his route. Dean glared at his brother. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. Go watch TV and I'll order a pizza."

"You have got to be kidding me."

Sam just shot him a look. The one that meant he was absolutely not joking. Not a bit.

Dean groaned, "Come on. You may be fond of this tiny little room with the orange paisley curtains, but I am not. I've been researching this case with you all day since we can't do anything else until tomorrow. But there's no reason we can't go do something now."

"You may be willing to take stupid chances, but I'm not." Sam said, pulling out his phone. "What do you want on your pizza?"

"I don't want pizza. I want a burger of my choosing at an eating establishment of my choosing." Dean snarked, but the back of his brain was mulling Sam's words.

"Tomorrow."

"You're nuts." Dean muttered, sitting down in defeat. He listened as Sam ordered the pizza. When he hung up the phone, Dean asked, "Spill. What did you mean by stupid chances?"

Sam shrugged, sitting down across the table. "Nothing."

"Give it up. You're not even half trying to be a convincing liar. Why do you have me under house arrest? What did I do to deserve this?"

"It's not you." Sam said, averting his eyes.

Dean motioned with his hand, "Go on."

"It's Tuesday."

"Uh, yeah." Dean nodded. "It happens every week after Monday. What's that got to do with…"

He broke off, realization suddenly dawning. Tuesday. It had been weeks since the Broward County Mystery Spot fiasco. Sam had been skittish for a long time after that mess and, given what Sam had told him about the experience, Dean couldn't blame him. But Sam had finally stopped acting like a nervous wreck on Wednesday mornings and life had gone back to normal. _Well, our version of normal anyway_. So this was new.

Dean said, "It's Tuesday. I get it. But it's been weeks and you recently stopped acting like an overprotective prison warden on Tuesdays. Why is today any different?"

"I just think today is a good day to lay low." Sam said, shrugging and trying to look like he wasn't freaking out.

"Ok." Dean acquiesced. If Sam was this nervous, there must be a good reason. "We'll chill. But you gotta tell me why you think today is a bad day for me to be me." He smiled, but Sam didn't appear amused. Dean asked, "Come on. What is it?"

"It's April 1st." Sam sat back in his chair and shrugged.

"April 1st. So?"

"April Fool's Day, Dean."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Yeah. So? You planning to prank me?"

Sam said, "I'm more concerned that the Trickster might prank us. Today's gotta be like a Trickster double play, right?"

_Ah. And there it is_. Dean shook his head. He started to say it was highly unlikely. That the sadistic monster wasn't out to get them. But the words stuck in his throat. After what had happened in Florida, he couldn't say that with any confidence.

"How can we ever be sure...of anything?" Sam said, troubled. "He could manipulate everything. Did manipulate everything. And we couldn't do anything to stop it. How do we know, how can we know, that he's not…"

Dean interrupted him. "We can't."

"That's so helpful."

"Well, I could always lie to you." Dean grinned, then grew serious. "Look, Sam, he's a creep. I'd gank him in a heartbeat. I hate what he did and I'm sorry you had to go through all of it. But we can't let him become the monster under the bed, right?"

Sam nodded, "I get that."

"But it doesn't mean that you're gonna let me walk out that door, does it?" Dean said with a knowing smile.

"Why would you want to?" Sam pointed at the window, "It's pouring outside."

"Point taken. Alright. I'll stay inside on two conditions." Dean bargained.

Sam narrowed his eyes. "Such as?"

"I get to pick whatever we watch tonight. Not one complaint out of you."

"Ok."

"Two, this is the last Tuesday you freak out like this." Dean said seriously. "I'm not going to hide every single Tuesday for the rest of my life." He felt bad for saying that when Sam flinched. The rest of his life wasn't going to be that long. "Sorry. Anyway, this is it. Deal?"

"Fine." Sam agreed. He added halfheartedly, "Besides, April first won't fall on a Tuesday again until 2014 so I guess we don't have to worry about that."

Despite the rather depressing sentiment, Dean grinned, "That's the spirit. Hand me the remote."

Flipping through the channels, Dean was glad he'd forgotten to reset the alarm last night. Somehow, he didn't think it would have been that funny after all if he'd awakened Sam with _Asia_ this morning.

* * *

**April 1st, 2014**

He stumbled up the steps, fingering the keys. Long hours spent doing research that amounted to less than nothing were wearing on him. Sam had left an hour ago without a word. They'd been doing a lot of things lately without words. Somehow the silence felt worse than when they argued. Dean rubbed his head and concentrated on getting up the stairs. Needed to get to the door. Needed to get something to drink. Even his second secret stash of liquor was depleted.

Dean reached the landing and was about to open the front door when his bleary eyes caught sight of a note paper taped to the door. It was just at eye level and he squinted at it. The words blurred and he had to rub his eyes until it came into focus. He read the note twice, then tore it off the door and crumpled it up. For a moment, he stood there, hand on the doorknob. Then he sighed, flattened the note out and reread it.

Despite the headache, despite the neverending ache that seemed to spread out from his very soul to every nerve and fiber of his being, despite everything that was wrong between him and Sam, Dean smiled. He shook his head and turned around to head back downstairs.

_ Look, we made it to April 1st, 2014. Stay inside. I'm getting pizza and yes, I'll bring more beer. And a pie. I promise it won't be cake this time. Stop griping, go back downstairs and don't leave the bunker or I swear I'll kick your butt when I find you._


End file.
